Kirsten's musings...

Get Your Guts In Gear - 2009 PNW Ride

Now that this year’s Get Your Guts In Gear is in the books, I figured it was time for a quick recap of the weekend.

Day 0
Thursday I spent the morning finishing up some last minute errands, packing and getting the house in order for our dog-sitter.  Once that was all done I headed down to Edmonds to help check in riders and crew, and then on to the pre-race meeting.  Jay (ride director) had a new video to share with the group that included a short snippet I had recorded as well as a longer scene featuring Jim.  Nice.  After the riders were dismissed the crew broke up into smaller groups to get organized.  I was going to be route marking this year, something I’ve done before, so I was able to get the rest of the team briefed on their duties for the weekend.  And break. (*clap*)

Day 1
Ugh…Friday morning is such an early wake-up call.  Mom, Jim and I had to stop off and pick up some donated items for the Opening Ceremony, which only had a few bumps in the road.  Fortunately it wasn’t raining like last year, so the riders were pumped up and ready to go.  A few words from the Mayor of Edmonds and a couple of beneficiaries and off they went.

Route marking is done one day ahead, so while the riders were making their way through Day 1, my partner and I were putting up directional signs for Day 2.  It can be a fun job if you have a good partner (I did) but it’s a little lonely because you have no interaction with the riders or other crew members except at camp.  Bonus:  For lunch I found a great hole-in-the-wall burger joint I stumbled upon a couple of years ago.

Camp 1 was at City Beach Park in Oak Harbor, on Whidbey Island.  Due to changes in the dates we were in a slightly different spot, but it all worked out in the end.  Bonus #2:  Make-your-own ice cream sundaes for dessert.  Yum.

Day 2
Since we moved the date of the ride this year we were in partial conflict with a car show that was going to be held right where we were camping, which means we had to get all of the tents down and cleared away by 6:30.  Bonus #3:  A low overnight dew point meant that the tents weren’t wet in the morning.

After route marking Day 3 we headed back to camp at the Skagit County Fairgrounds in Mount Vernon.  More conflicts – they were setting up for the fair so we were relegated to a fairly small stretch of grass for camp.    There were several jokes about “tenement housing” as the tents were set up in rows to save space.

Bonus #4:  While waiting for all of the riders to come in I managed to get in a few games of cribbage with my route marking partner and her son.

After dinner we held the second annual “Funky PJ’s” contest:


(The Tooth Fairy won)

Day 3
Bonus #3.1:  No dew again!  Woohoo!

Since there was no more route marking to do I headed off to join the lunch crew.  Lunch is served at rest stop #3 which happened to be along the Centennial Trail at Machias (between Lake Stevens and Snohomish).  The riders were very excited to be on a flat bike trail instead of hilly streets for such a large portion of the day.  (I accidentally typed ‘helly’, but I guess that works too.  J )

After lunch we packed up and headed for Holding.  For this ride all of the riders are stopped about a mile from the actual finish until everyone arrives, and then they all ride together for the last bit, along with a police escort.  Quite a sight to see.

At the Closing Ceremony there were a few more short speeches and then a barbecue where riders and crew could interact one last time before everyone headed home.  Riders and crew came from as far as Florida and England to participate this year, which was fantastic.  People who have a connection to this cause will go to great lengths to support this kind of event, which is fabulous.  And really that’s the whole reason this ride was started – not just to raise funds, but to raise awareness.  And, as Jim has said, to create a “rolling support group.”

Once we said all of our good-byes it was home to the pup, who missed us terribly, and to our traditional “red meat and a martini” meal at the Keg.  We chatted about the ride, caught each other up on what had seen and heard, and reveled in another successful ride.

Get Your Guts in Gear – It’s more than a ride, it’s an expression of love. *

*amended tag line

Make It So's Disney Magic - "Eli"

12/5/94 - 6/5/09

Jim and I were so excited when we moved into our first house - it meant that we could finally get a dog of our own.  After a couple of false starts we brought home an adorable ball of golden fur that we named 'Eli'.  He would represent the first in our pattern of naming dogs after people or characters in Disney lore.  (Walt Disney's middle name was Elias).

For the first few months all Eli wanted to do was to be in your arms licking your face.  That is when he wasn't sleeping under the hearth by the fireplace.  Always energetic, he loved everybody that came to visit him. 

Once he got to be about a year old, though, his stubborn streak began to emerge.  This was never more evident than when we tried to train him in obedience and agility.  He could obey all of the commands, if he wanted to.  Otherwise he was just as happy to play off by himself or find a new person who might pet him.  I'll never forget when he and I competed in the agility event at the 1998 National Specialty.  With all the crowds watching he actually stayed with me from start to finish.  He skipped all of the jumps (he never liked jumps) but he stayed with me for everything else.  I was so excited when we crossed the finish line that I tackled him and started crying tears of joy.  Apparently some people in the crowd wondered if I realized that he had skipped all of the jumps.  I did, but at that moment I really didn't care.

After realizing that maybe obedience and agility weren't for him, Eli was content to go for walks every afternoon and dig holes in the back yard.  I used to say he was part terrier.  And part pointer.  He didn't like to fetch either - if you threw a ball for him he would walk over to it and bark, as if to say, "Here it is!"

As Eli got older and the walks became less frequent he was content to spend his days on the recliner next to Jim or surveying his domain from a corner of the yard.  He loved just hanging out in the back yard, watching the world go by.

When I went to check on him Friday afternoon I knew something was wrong.  His breathing was labored and he wouldn't respond when I called his name and shook his shoulders.  Jim and I took him to the emergency vet who told us that something had ruptured internally because he was bleeding into his stomach.  His vital signs were not strong enough for him to handle surgery that might or might not stem the flow of blood.  We decided that he had suffered enough, and decided to put him down.  When we looked in his eyes there was nothing to see - he was already gone, it was just his stubborn will that was keeping his body alive. 

He slipped away quietly amid tears and hugs and kisses.  He will definitely be missed.

Again, is it just me?

There's a tree in our front yard that needs work that we cannot do on our own, so I called a local tree service company.  We scheduled to have them come out first thing Friday morning since I had the day off of work.  He said they'd be there about 8:30, so I made sure that I was up and dressed to deal with them.  About 9:15 he called to say that one of his guys was sick, so they'd need to reschedule.  Not great, but this needs to get done, so we settled on Saturday morning instead.

At 11:00 he called again to say that his other crew was probably going to finish their job early, so they could come to our house after lunch, about 1:00.  I went to the store and ran some errands and was back at the house in plenty of time.  Some time after 3:00 he called yet again to say that the other job had taken longer than expected so could we go back to Saturday morning.

At this point I mentioned that they weren't making a very good impression, but that I'd see them tomorrow morning.  He said that I wasn't making a very good impression, after all he can't control when people get sick or jobs run long, like that was my fault.  Then he said that maybe I should find a different company to handle the job.  Fine - they'll be out Monday to give us an estimate.

I've come to the conclusion that they never wanted the job in the first place.

Is it just me?

I recently read an interview with a country music singer who said that she didn't like dessert because it wasn't good for her.  What?

Last night at spin class one of the other riders professed his love for spin class, because it was such a great workout.  Huh?

I LIVE for dessert and I despise spin class.  I try to be reasonable about my dessert intake since isn't really good for me, but I can't make the leap to disliking it.  Same goes for spin class - I go and work hard because it is a good workout, but I certainly don't like it.

My determination on whether I like something is based on my personal preferences, and not whether or not it's good for me.  Is that strange?  Or am I alone in this line of thinking?

The Proposal

After the “’Always’ Incident” we managed to put the awkward non-proposal behind us and continue doing the long-distance thing.  Jim came to Seattle over Presidents’ Day weekend and we walked around Green Lake in the unexpected snowfall.

We made plans for a longer visit in April when Jim would come north over his school’s spring break.  While talking on the phone one night I mentioned that if he wanted to bring the engagement ring that would be okay with me.  To this day I’m not sure what changed in those two months, but I felt ready to accept his proposal.

He was due to arrive on the morning of April 6^th.  I was going to take a long lunch and pick him up from the airport, and then go back to work to finish off the day.  I was quite surprised when he called me at about 10:00 that morning - he should have been in the air at that time.  He told me that his flight was delayed due to mechanical difficulties, but that he’d keep me posted as to the new arrival time.

When he called to say that they were about to take off I recalculated in my head the time that I’d need to leave in order to be at the airport in time to pick him up.  When that time arrived I jumped in my car and headed south.  Unfortunately there was a HUGE backup on southbound I-5 that threatened to make me late.  (Remember this was in the days before cell phones and online traffic maps).

Once I finally made it through the traffic jam I pulled into the parking lot at Sea-Tac right when his plane was due to land.  I ran through the terminal and fortunately made it through security pretty quickly (again, this was before 9/11 when you could meet people at the gate) and arrived at the gate just as the doors opened to let people off the plane.  Whew.

As I waited for him to disembark, a woman walked up to me and said, “Are you Kirsten?”  When I said, “Yes” she handed me a laminated card with the letter ‘W’ on it.  As I puzzled over its meaning another person handed me a card with the letter ‘I’ on it.  As ‘L’, ‘L’, ‘Y’, etc. followed I clued into what was happening.  The passengers formed a circle around me as Jim approached, got down on one knee, and proposed.  He carried the last card, which said ‘ME?’  I said “Yes,” and the crowd erupted in applause.

One of the women who participated in this proposal offered to take a picture, and sent us a copy in our first “Congratulations” card.  (No digital cameras either)  Alaska Airlines gave him a bottle of champagne and a note to me apologizing for making him late.  I can’t even imagine how nerve-wracking it must have been for Jim to have this all planned out, and then to have it delayed by three hours.  I’m just glad I got to the gate on time.

The "Always" Incident

From fall of 1989 to spring of 1990 Jim and I did the “long-distance” thing.  He was still living in L.A. and I had come home to Seattle.  In addition to talking on the phone every night (a very expensive proposition in those days) we took turns visiting each other.  I had traveled down to L.A. over New Year’s Eve to have a belated Christmas and to go to the Park (Disneyland) to ring in the New Year.

Since we had a little time to kill that afternoon we decided to go to a movie.  “Always” (IMDb) was playing at a theater near Jim’s place so off we went.  We were a little early so after purchasing the tickets we sat in his car to talk for a while until the movie was to start, and somehow the topic of conversation of marriage came up.  I had broken off an engagement the year before so I was feeling a little gun-shy about the idea.  I told him that I loved him, but wasn’t quite ready to make that commitment just yet.  He got really quiet, and I wondered if I had completely blown it.  He told me that he had purchased a ring and was planning on giving it to me during the fireworks at the Park at midnight.  Gulp.

What he did next was just another example of how great our relationship was going to be.  He turned his baseball cap backwards on his head, a sign we had developed that meant he was switching from “boyfriend” to “best friend.”  He asked me, as a friend, if he should take the ring back and forget the whole thing, talking like I was one of his male buddies and not the girl he wanted to marry.  I was honest with him, telling him that he should hold on to the ring, because she (I) would probably come around eventually.

With that settled he turned his baseball cap back around, and we went in to see the movie and off to the Park, and didn’t bring the conversation up again that night.  It’s now been identified as the “’Always’ Incident” in our history.  It doesn’t come up very often, but it was a huge turning point in our relationship.

I'm wearing my shirt...

Paint the Bank Pink

Latest 5K report

Today Jim and I ran the Love 'Em or Leave 'Em 5K around Green Lake.  It's a fun event that centers around Valentine's Day.  Couples can run as a team, or you can run as an individual.  Jim and I don't run together, but it's one of the runs where he will wait for me near the finish line so that we can cross together, which is very sweet.  My goal is that one day my time will be so close to his that he won't have to wait for me.

Run                        Distance    Date          Watch   First stop              Chip

Resolution Run             5K        1/1/2009        37.06     1 mile +    

Love ‘Em or Leave ‘Em    5K        2/4/2009       34.50     1.25 miles

My mind's made up...

Back in the early 80's the cool thing to do was to go to Spencer's and have them attach an iron-on decal to a shirt.  There were letters and numbers, pictures and sayings, just about anything you could imagine could be put on a shirt for you to wear.  I remember looking through the available designs and seeing one that said, "My mind's made up, don't confuse me with the facts."  As perfect as that was for my personality I never did get it as a shirt.

I thought about this last night as I was making myself something for dinner.  Jim was going out for pizza with his group of friends so I was on my own.  Scary, I know.  I had some steak left over from a few nights ago, so I decided to heat that up and make some french fries to go with it.  Gotta carb-up for the 5k run this weekend.

Anyway, when the fries were about done I planned to put some salt on them and put them back in the oven for another minute or so while I got everything else put together.  We have some new salt and pepper shakers that don't have an obvious way of telling which is which.  I grabbed one of them and looked at the holes on the top and decided that it was the salt shaker.  I shook some into my hand, I looked at the contents through the holes and spread some on the fries, convinced each time that it was salt.  When I took the fries out of the oven I was dismayed to see black flakes everywhere.  Sigh...fries with pepper on them are not as good as fries with salt on them.  Must pay closer attention next time.

Very sweet...

As I was driving down the road this weekend I passed a deep blue Jaguar with a vanity license plate that read 'OUR50TH'.  When I glanced inside the car I saw an older couple happily chatting as they drove along.  I certainly hope Jim and I can buy a nice new car (maybe a flying one? :) ) to celebrate our 50th anniversary and still be as happy as we are right now.